Ecuador reelects conservative millionaire

Ecuadorian voters weary of crime on Sunday reelected President Daniel Noboa a conservative young millionaire with a divisive noholdsbarred crimefighting record but his opponent vowed to seek a recount over what she described as grotesque electoral fraudFigures released by Ecuadors National Electoral Council show Noboa receiving 558 per cent of the vote with more than 90 per cent of ballots counted while leftist lawyer Luisa Gonzaacutelez earned 44 per centEcuadors top electoral authority Diana Atamaint said those results showed an irreversible trend in favor of NoboaThe win gives Noboa four years to fulfil the promises he first made in 2023 when he stunned voters by winning a snap election and a 16month presidency despite his limited political experienceGonzaacutelezs defeat marks the third consecutive time that the party of Rafael Correa the countrys most influential president this century failed to return to the presidencyNoboa heir to a fortune built on the banana trade is expected to continue applying some of his noholdsbarred crimefighting strategies that part of the electorate finds appealing but which have tested the limits of laws and norms of governingGonzaacutelez on Sunday told supporters her campaign does not recognize the results presented by the National Electoral Council arguing among other issues that preelection polls showed her ahead of NoboaThe candidates advanced to Sundays contest after getting the most votes in Februarys firstround election Noboa led Gonzaacutelez by about 17000 votesNo 1 concern among voters is violenceVoters are primarily worried about the violence that transformed the country starting in 2021 a spike in crime tied to the trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and PeruBoth candidates have promised toughoncrime policies better equipment for law enforcement and international help to fight drug cartels and local criminal groupsMy vote is clear said Irene Valdez a retiree who voted for Noboa I want to continue living in freedomCollege student Martiacuten Constante had a different viewI think Luisa is going to change things because Noboa has been very authoritarian Constante 19 said near a voting center in Quito the capital Our country needs a lot of changesMore than 13 million people were eligible to vote which is mandatory for adults up to the age of 65 It is optional for people aged 16 and 17 and over 65 Failure to vote results in a USD46 fineSeveral arrests over ballot anomaliesAtamaint said several people including voters and poll workers had been arrested over ballot anomalies She said some cases involved double voting and others stemmed from reports of counterfeit premarked ballotsAtamaint added that 17 people were caught taking photos of their ballots which the National Electoral Council banned for this election citing reports of voter coercion by criminal groups The violation comes with a maximum fine of 32000Many Ecuadorians used their vote to express rejection of a candidate and not necessarily to endorse the candidate they voted forEcuador is polarized which is a sign of rejection of the past but also of the recent policies of the Noboa administration political analyst Oswaldo Landaacutezuri said adding that the expected tight result could become a major problem for the country if one candidate does not recognize the other as the winnerIn 2023 Noboa and Gonzaacutelez were largely unknown to most voters as they sought the presidency for the first time They were firstterm lawmakers in May 2023 when thenPresident Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly shortening his own mandate as a result and triggering that years snap electionNoboa heir to a fortune built on bananasNoboas first foray into politics was his stint as a lawmaker An heir to a fortune built on the banana trade Noboa opened an event organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his fathers Noboa Corp where he held management positions in the shipping logistics and commercial areasGonzaacutelez 47 held various government jobs during the presidency of Rafael Correa who led Ecuador from 2007 through 2017 with freespending socially conservative policies and grew increasingly authoritarian in his last years as presidentNoboa 37 declared Ecuador to be in a state of internal armed conflict in January 2024 allowing him to deploy thousands of soldiers to the streets to combat gangs and to charge people with terrorism counts for alleged ties to organized crime groupsUnder his watch the homicide rate dropped from 4618 per 100000 people in 2023 to 3876 per 100000 people in 2024 But despite the decrease the rate remained far higher than the 685 homicides per 100000 people seen in 2019Some of Noboas heavyhanded crimefighting tactics have come under scrutiny for testing the limits of laws and norms of governing He has also been criticized for allegations of electoral irregularities he made after Februarys voteThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed 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